Demand for liquid crystal materials for Chinese panel makers is expected to surge this year, reaching nearly 250 tons. The info comes from Chinese firm Sigmaintell, who did a study on the mater.

The amount mentioned above means an increase of nearly 31.6% on year and stands for 29% of global demand. The demand will jump to 470 tons in 2020, meaning nearly 44% of global demand. A few TFT LCD panel makers in China are already expanding their production lines, especially BOE Technology and its plan in Fuzhou, plus China Star Optoelectronics, with its plant in Wuhan.

Interestingly Apple is said to go the OLED way from next year, which would free all these makers from a pretty big surplus and give a boost to all the other firms. Of course, the older iPhone models will still get made, so there will still be LCD panel requirements, don’t get me wrong. Remains to be seen how LCDs will evolve, if OLED goes mainstream.